I am fascinated by nature. I am seeing art in everything around me. There are inspiring views wherever I go. In the looking, a snapshot catches a single moment. Creative energy flows through my veins- urging me to bring it to the watercolor paper. These are the inspirations that I take to transform on paper with brush and palette. I am Christy Sheeler. I am a watercolor artist.

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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

First Snowfall Moments Captured

A taste of winter arrives...

The snowflakes began falling yesterday in the mid morning. I had mixed feelings about them. I'm sure my daughter was giddy with joy...she was at school. She'd been wishing for snow for quite a while. She loves winter most of all. I do enjoy winter usually.

It must have been the wildfires and smoke filled skies that put me behind. I felt cheated out of precious summer days. The days of spontaneity and freedom; no school or schedule to keep. No icy roads to slow us down. I've been wanting to delay the seasons a few more weeks.

This is a flower called Indian Feather. It blooms delicate deep fuchsia-red blossoms. I've trimmed quite a bit of it back to encourage it to bloom again. Whether it can survive the winter indoors, I don't know but I'd like to try...not sure how it will last with a curious kitten running around. She's finally learning to leave the potted rosemary alone. I'll most likely bring it in today along with thyme and oregano from the herb boxes. Little Lucy will be having a feline hay day, I'm sure.

The flowers grown in containers on my upper deck are the last to remain. There's still a little lettuce in the raised garden beds but these blooms will be the strong ones to hang on longer. I've been pressing the johnny jump up blossoms between books for over a month. They will be used for vellum luminaries, an idea I found on Pinterest. If you're curious to see it, click on How To: Luminaria with Kelly Wilconsin.

Will I keep up my creative momentum when the days are shorter? The blue skies are beautiful against the dreamy white snow resting on branches and dried sunflower heads. There's a charm to the blanketing layer which hides the fading grass.

So, while I'm still a little reluctant about its arrival...the snow is captivating and soothing in its own way. It fell so gently in big fluffy flakes that I felt like this was the inside of a snow globe. The temperature was quite mild and there was little or no wind.

There is blue sky today which lights up the frost and snowy blanket covering all the outdoors. The sunlight on snow has its own beauty in its colors contrasted with shadows. The pale golden yellow of sun striking snow sits next to lavender gray shadows. All of it is snow but it's a play of color in one place.

Such beauty in the dead and dried up sunflowers; a soft and gentle peaceful effect. The petals of the sunflowers were vibrantly alive with reds, purples, oranges, and yellows. Now they have changed their wardrobe and most days they are drab and lifeless. Today is something so different and lovely.

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."-Stanley Horowitz

There's a blog post half complete for tomorrow...and now I'm off to get it polished up and ready to share with you. I'm planning to work on more photography of artwork today. There's a few that have not pleased me completely yet. I'm determined that today's sunshine will aid my efforts. Have a great day where you are! Take the time to observe the seasons changing...however that happens, receive it as a gift, watching for the moments that await your notice.